Fernanda: The Begining of the End

Though it has already been established in class that the Buendia family tends to follow cycles of ups and downs, it can be argued that it was the introduction of Fernanda into the family that marked the beginning of the end. At the start of the novel, Macondo was seen as a sort of utopia, but as the years went on the town was slowly corrupted by the invasion of outsiders. The gypsies brought magic and inventions that distracted Jose Acardio Buendia from his obligations to his family and the town, Moscote plagued the Macondo with politics and war, and the American banana company invaded and took over the natural landscape. But, it wasn't until Fernanda that the Buendia family itself was infiltrated by a foreigner. When she arrived, she pushed onto the family pompous traditions from the mainland, a section of Colombia Marquez himself despised. When Ursula fell into ill health, she took over as matriarch of the family. Ursula through the family's history had always been the most grounded member, keeping them afloat and constantly fixing the disasters of the others. She is also the one that keeps the family history alive, she remembers the beginning of Macondo and she keeps their history alive. Ursula was the only one left to warn them about the curse of the pigs tail, thus delaying the Buendia's tragic fate. This is all lost once Fernanda takes over. She erases their history and instead replaces it with the corrupt values and traditions she grew up with in the interior. She is the one who banished Meme away into exile, resulting in her not raising the child herself, but sending it back. As a result, no knew of his parents except Fernanda, he slept with his cousin, and the incetious baby with the pigs tale was born, brining on the hurricane that finally killed the town and the Buendias for good. This can also be seen as a critique of Colombia by Marquez. What he is essentially implying is that of Colombia and its people allow themselves to forget their past and be corrupted and invaded by foreigner, they will lose their history and identity. Without that, they are nothing and like Macondo, will be blown away by the winds of the next passing storm. It is a desperate plea from Marquez to Colombia to not forget its past, to heed the warnings of their ancestors , to learn from past mistakes and move forward into the future.